George Clooney “is used to being fawned over,” a source says, so his new relationship is a pleasant change.Ian Gavan
/ Getty Images

Lawyer Amal Alamuddin is pictured during a news conference in London in 2012. The British law firm she works for has offered its congratulations to Alamuddin and fiance George Clooney.JUSTIN TALLIS
/ AFP/Getty Images

George Clooney and former wrestling personality Stacy Keibler were an item in 2013.John Shearer
/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

George Clooney dated Sarah Larson — a former cocktail waitress and winner on the reality TV show Fear Factor — in 2008.Matt Sayles
/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

The news that longtime bachelor George Clooney was engaged to a human-rights lawyer has surprised more than a few celebrity watchers. The Oscar-winning actor has torn through a bevy of beautiful women but none was ever Mrs. Right — until now. Postmedia’s Brad Hunter explains how Amal Alamuddin captured Clooney’s heart:

SHE PLAYED HARD TO GET

Considered one of the most handsome men alive, Clooney is used to “being fawned over.” Alamuddin wasn’t going to play that game, the Daily Mail reports. Quoting a well-informed Clooney insider, the Mail says Alamuddin played hard to get.

“Clooney asked her out for dinner and she put him off twice, saying she was too busy, before accepting the third time,” the source said. “She was operating on the lines of ‘treat ’em mean, keep ’em keen’ and clearly it worked. Clooney was beguiled by her and she had the upper hand.”

The Clooney source added: “What he likes about her is that she treats him normally. He’s so used to being fawned over that it’s refreshing for him. And of course she is a brilliant human-rights lawyer — but quite an operator, too, you might say. She has met a whole bunch of A-listers through him and is seemingly quite cool about it, though you suspect she’s loving it.”

GRAVITAS

Despite the occasional lapse — hello, Elisabetta Canalis — Clooney likes a woman with brains. Alamuddin has them in spades. An Oxford-educated lawyer, the 36-year-old has represented WikiLeaks whistleblower Julian Assange and is a former adviser to one-time UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, now the special envoy to Syria. Born in Beirut and fluent in French and Arabic, it was Alamuddin’s work on the Syria file that brought her to Clooney’s attention. Plus, the Daily Telegraph said Alamuddin has told friends she has no intention of giving up her career.

TIME FLIES

Now 52, Clooney appears to have had a major rethink about where his life is going. Not only did he want a beautiful, intelligent woman by his side, the Monuments Men star also wanted an equal partner. He didn’t have to look far. One of his best friends is Brad Pitt — married to the actress-activist Angelina Jolie. As recently as December, Clooney told Esquire marriage was out of the question. “I haven’t had aspirations in that way, ever. I was married in 1989 (to actress Talia Balsam, it ended in 1993). I wasn’t very good at it.”

KEEPING IT DOWN LOW

Clooney’s past conquests could never seem to wait to post pictures of themselves and Clooney on social media. Alamuddin, on the other hand, has more important things to worry about. And Clooney likes that. One source told the Mail: “George and Amal are trying to keep things very low-key, but they also aren’t really trying to hide this, it doesn’t seem. I think it’s like they want the people they love to know that this is real, that they plan on being together for ever.”

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

In addition to their shared passion for human-rights causes, both Clooney and Alamuddin enjoy travelling to exotic places.

Last month photos emerged of the couple on holiday in Tanzania — dressed like Raiders of the Lost Ark extras. After Tanzania, the couple relaxed in the exotic Seychelles and visited New York for a romantic visit at the Carlyle Hotel. Next stop for the globetrotters was Dubai, where Clooney met her family.

QUOTES:

Last year, a Tumblr blog named Alamuddin the most beautiful lawyer in London.

A friend of Alamuddin told the Telegraph: “She is a ‘man’s woman,’ forthright in her opinions and hugely ambitious.”

Mom Nina Clooney on any similarities between Alamuddin and Gorgeous George’s other girlfriends: “Heavens, no! She’s a lawyer, she is brilliant, she is a very bright woman and at the very top of her career.

“On an intellectual level, they are equals. That is very important to him. Amal’s world couldn’t be more different from the Hollywood lifestyle.“

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